Train punctuality hits lowest level for a decade 🚂

The Office of Rail and Road have released travel statistics for 2016 that show train punctuality has hit the lowest level for 10 years – with 12.3% of all the UK’s trains failing to reach their destination on time.

The previous worst record was 12.5%, in 2006.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the worst performer was Govia Thameslink Railway, who own Southern Rail. Their services were late 25.4% of the time.

3.8% of all trains in the UK last year were cancelled completely or arrived over 30 minutes later. Technically, the rail industry counts services as ‘on time’ if they arrive within 5 mins of their intended time for commuter services or 10 mins for long-haul services.

Speaking on behalf of the Campaign for Better Transport, Lianna Etkind described the services as “lacklustre”. She said: “It’s time that the Government got a grip of the situation and starts to give passengers what they want: an affordable and reliable rail service. They should begin by ensuring that rail contracts give stronger incentives for punctuality, reliability and passenger service, as has successfully happened on London Overground and Merseyrail, and channel investment into those worn-out parts of the network which cause delays.”